INC withdraws support for Wike, demands apology to Ijaw nation – Newstrends
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INC withdraws support for Wike, demands apology to Ijaw nation

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3 years ago

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Nyesom Ezenwo Wike

The highest Ijaw socio-cultural organisation, the Ijaw National Congress (INC), yesterday announced its decision to withdraw the support for Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike in his presidential ambition.

The INC, in a statement yesterday by a member of the National Representative Council (INC), Elder Christopher Abarowei, called on politicians who had declared support for Wike’s presidential ambition to withdrew it until he tenders an unreserved apology to the leadership of INC, Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) and the entire Ijaw nation.

According to Abarowei, the office of the Governor of a state and President is supposed to be occupied by persons who are considered by those who voted them into office in the first place as being among the best in terms of their ability to manage success.

He said: “There is a popular saying that you know a person better when you give him power.

“Governor Nyesom Wike has not disappointed those who helped him to be governor as he has turned himself into a complete public nuisance with the way and manner he quickly insults people at the least provocation.

“This drift into uncivilised and uncouth adventure by a state governor is in our opinion unacceptable, undeserving and outrightly condemnable.

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“The recent outburst in a church of all places by Governor Wike against the Ijaw National Congress (INC) and the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) is a clear case of a man whose mental state has to be interrogated.

“It is highly unacceptable for a man occupying the most exalted position of Governor of Rivers State to use derogatory words like ‘Thunder Fire You’ in a church that is supposed to be congregated by decent people and respected workers in the Lord’s vineyard.

“This is a clear indication that the governor lacks the moral compass to manage a state not to talk of his delusional attempt to occupy the most exalted position in Nigeria.

“How will he feel to ask for the votes of delegates of Ijaw extraction from Delta, Edo, Rivers and Delta states whom he wants thunder to fire?

“Governor Wike should better still allow his aides to do what he is shamelessly doing now as the job of an attack dog does not in anyway fit into the job description of a state governor.

“We wonder how comfortable this governor is with him having issues with almost everything around him except for his bloated ego.

“There is a popular rule in boxing that requires a boxer with the longer reach and height to come down to the level of a shorter opponent to hit his target.

“In the process, the shorter man has an advantage to hit the face of the taller opponent with ease. Wike should be knowledgeable enough to know that using gutter languages will force weaker opponents to dive into the gutters with him.”

He said no governor of Ijaw extraction had ever insulted the Ikwerres the way Wike throws caution to the wind to insult Ijaws at random.

He asked him to come down from his high horse and build some moral decency and desist forthwith from insulting Ijaw people as his becoming a governor was a function of some Ijaw persons lifting his head, legs and hands.

Abarowei said his fellow Ikwerre brother, Chibuike Amaechi, the current Minister of Transportation, would have crushed him without the support of the Ijaws.

THE NATION

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Atiku says he’s not sure about contesting 2027 presidential election

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2 days ago

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March 26, 2025

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Former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar

Atiku says he’s not sure about contesting 2027 presidential election

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that he does not know if he will contest the presidency in 2027.

Atiku made the remark in a yet-to-be-aired interview for a television show, Untold Stories, with Adesuwa Giwa-Osagie, scheduled for broadcast today but exclusively obtained by Daily Trust.

The former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) recently announced the formation of a coalition of opposition leaders to wrest power from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.

However, there has been widespread speculation about who will lead the coalition and emerge as its presidential candidate, with former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi and former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, being considered among its key figures.

When asked if he would be running for the presidency in 2027, Atiku said: “I don’t know because there has to be, first of all, a viable platform, more than any other time in the political history of this country, particularly since the return of democracy.”

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Atiku, who has run for the presidency a record six times, did not rule out the possibility of contesting again in 2027.

“I have not seen Nigeria in dire need of, you know, an experienced and credible leadership than this time.

“We had a similar, you know, what would I say, merger in 2014. About four of us or is it three? We all ran for president and one of us emerged, and we all supported the one who emerged, and he won,” he said.

He agreed with former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s assertion that Nigeria’s democracy is deteriorating, saying the situation is “very dire.”

“No doubt about that,” he said.

Atiku also expressed his disappointment with the country’s political leadership.

“The next generation after me, many of them had been governors, had been senators. Instead of me to see an improvement in the level of governance at the state level and so on and so forth, I don’t see it. So I feel a little bit distressed.”

Atiku also questioned the credibility of the current legislative leadership, especially as it relates to the National Assembly’s ratification of the state of emergency in Rivers State

“I am not surprised,” he said, alleging that they are corrupt.

 

Atiku says he’s not sure about contesting 2027 presidential election

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Africa’s democracy is govt by small for small number of people – Obasanjo

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3 days ago

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March 25, 2025

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Africa’s democracy is govt by small for small number of people – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has advanced reasons for what he called abysmal failure of democracy in Africa.

According to him, African presidents work with a clique and wield enormous powers with little or no resistance from perpetuating illegalities and abuse of office.

The ex-President said the democracy being practised in Africa does not aligned with the people’s values, culture, and way of life.

Obasanjo said spoke on Monday at a colloquium in Abuja to mark the 60th birthday of Emeka Ihedioha, a former governor of Imo State.

The former Nigerian leader, who chaired the event, referencing Abraham Lincoln’s definition of democracy as “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” said the system should work for all citizens rather than a privileged few.

He however wondered if African countries are practising true democracy or only adopting Western Liberal democracy.

He said, “If you are talking about democracy failing in Africa, democracy in Africa has failed. And why has it failed?

“Because in context and in content, it is not Africa. It does not have any aspect of our culture, our way of life, what we stand for, what we believe.

“Today, we have democracy, which is the government of a small number of people, by a small number of people over a large number of people who are deprived of what they need to have in life. That is not democracy that will endure.

“It is ‘I am because I can grab.’ What sort of democracy brings you, and you grab everything and then illegally, corruptly, and you say go to court? When you know that even in the court, you cannot get justice.

“It’s not that democracy is failing, democracy is dying and if we are going to make democracy not to die, we have to look at democracy in the context and in the content of Africa. I hope that we will get to that stage so that democracy which will deliver will be the democracy that we will have in Africa.”

Obasanjo was Nigeria’s military ruler from 1976 to 1979 and democratically elected president from 1999 to 2007.

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Atiku, Obi, El-Rufai’s coalition can’t unseat Tinubu – Shekarau

Published

5 days ago

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March 23, 2025

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Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau

Atiku, Obi, El-Rufai’s coalition can’t unseat Tinubu – Shekarau

Former Kano State Governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, has cast doubt on the ability of a newly formed opposition coalition to unseat President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 elections.

Shekarau described the alliance, which includes former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi, and ex-Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, as a gathering of individuals with personal political ambitions rather than a structured and unified opposition front.

His remarks came just two days after the coalition’s formation was announced, with the stated goal of challenging Tinubu’s administration.

In a statement by his spokesperson, Dr. Sule Yau, Shekarau remarked, “This is just a gathering of certain individuals with political ambitions; none of them has officially consulted their party leadership.”

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He further argued that a coalition featuring prominent figures does not necessarily equate to an effective political alliance.

“The coalition of opposition figures is a good development, as seen in their recent meeting under what they call an opposition alliance. However, none of the key figures involved represents their party leadership,” Shekarau stated.

Emphasizing the legal framework for political mergers, he pointed out that only registered parties could formally unite, making the recent gathering an informal arrangement rather than an officially recognized coalition.

 

Atiku, Obi, El-Rufai’s coalition can’t unseat Tinubu – Shekarau

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